3 expat women who practiced prostitution in a hotel arrested in Riyadh    Tunisian president and Saudi interior minister discuss security cooperation    Saudi, US defense ministers discuss over phone ways to enhance strategic cooperation    Grand Mufti expresses pride over Saudi Arabia's firm position on Palestine issue    Saudi Arabia's inflation records slight rise reaching 2% in January 2025    Electromin celebrates victory of "Nissan Formula E Team" in "Jeddah E-Prix" as first Saudi private-sector global partner in Formula E    Saudi Arabia vows full support to Lebanon's actions to safeguard citizens' security    US-made heavy bombs arrive in Israel after Biden-era hold    Death toll from New Delhi railway station stampede rises to 18    US, Russia to begin Ukraine peace talks in Saudi Arabia    Al Ittihad CEO calls for fairness as Al Hilal raises officiating concerns ahead of Saudi Classico    LG Electronics Saudi Arabia and Shaker Group mark 30 years of sustainable innovation in HVAC solutions    Benzema shines with goal and two assists as Al Ittihad dominate Al Wehda French star leads Al Ittihad to 4-1 victory, extending lead over Al Hilal ahead of top-of-the-table clash    Saudi Arabia among world's top 10 energy storage markets    Al Hilal held to controversial 1-1 draw against Al Riyadh, missing chance to reclaim top spot    Al Hilal accuses SPL's Michael Emenalo of bias and SFF's Manuel Navarro of pressuring team to accept local referees Club criticizes officiating, calls for elite foreign referees in Saudi Pro League    Maya Diab joins Arab stars and celebrities in celebrating the Centrepoint Ramadan 2025 collection launch at Riyadh Boulevard    Oilatum tackles rise in Eczema and Dry Skin in Saudi Arabia    HONOR brings together AI and luxury with PORSCHE DESIGN HONOR Magic7 RSR at LEAP 2025    Chinese film stirs national pride, rakes in $1bn in days    Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan 'out of danger' after attack at home in Mumbai    Order vs. Morality: Lessons from New York's 1977 Blackout    India puts blockbuster Pakistani film on hold    The Vikings and the Islamic world    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



‘Sorry, eight is too late...'
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 22 - 08 - 2008

CHINA's medals triumph at the Beijing Olympics has brought glory for this small city in farm heartland, where national sports success has been nurtured through family ambition and local government drive.
So far at the Games, athletes from Xiantao in central Hubei province have won three gold medals, a proud feat for this city of 300,000 surrounded by rice paddies and fish ponds.
“When Yang Wei won his gold medal, there were fireworks and crying and shouting everywhere, like he was our own son,” truck driver Yan Yunhong said of the local boy who won the prized all-around competition in gymnastics.
Yang also won a team gold, and Xiantao's other winner was 20-year-old weightlifter Liao Hui, who grew up on its rural outskirts. In past Games, its gymnasts won four gold medals, most famously Li Xiaoshuang, who in the 1990s stamped China's ascendency in men's gymnastics.
While extraordinary, the success of Xiantao, 1,100 kilometers (684 miles) southwest of Beijng, also typifies how China hauled itself to the top of the Olympic medal table.
The central government has poured billions into making champions. But finding and nurturing potential winners falls first on small places such as Xiantao, where parents' ambitions and coaches' and officials' hopes for hometown glory place tiny athletes under intense training and expectations.
“You can have as much money as you like, but in the end it depends on finding the right kids and training them right -- and that's what we do,” said Yang Wei's first coach, Peng Youping, a rasping chain-smoker with a bull-like torso.
“What you need is this,” he said, punching his chest. “Toughness and discipline, not technology.”
‘Eat Suffering'
The Li Xiaoshuang Gymnastics School where Peng teaches is the locus of Xiantao's plan to be a sports power.
The gym and classrooms for its 130 children are spartan and frayed. But even at the end of summer break, children sweated in the gym, twisting into shapes that would break adults' backs.
Peng and others said their success drew on a tradition of stringent coaching formed under legendary gym trainer Ding Xiapeng, who found Li Xiaoshuang.
“Our traditional culture teaches people to endure hardship for their family and the nation and the Communist Party also teaches people the importance of sacrifice,” said school coach Zheng Shunsheng, who studied under Ding.
“The government organises sports here, but it's the people who have to eat suffering.”
The other side of this bargain are the families willing to send children away for a tough, sometimes lonely and certainly distant shot at a medal.
On Thursday, Peng tested and prodded a queue of four- and five-year-old boys whose parents hope he will train them for the next few years.
At over 8,000 yuan ($1,170) a year, fees at the school are not cheap for parents often struggling as migrant or blue-collar workers. But those lining up said sports success could bring honour and income otherwise out of their children's grasp.
“He's a naughty kid with too much energy. Gymnastics could be his way to success,” one mother, Yang Hui, said of her fidgeting five-year-old.
But Peng was not sure. “He's not ideal,” he said, pressing and stretching Yang's gangly boy. “I'd have to think very hard before letting him study here.”
Rewards and rivalry
The rewards that come to the few who succeed are also on show in Xiantao. The local government has built “champion's villas” for Olympic winners, who can also expect big bonus payments, political office and business opportunities.
China's local governments compete among themselves for sports funds and prestige, and not always for the good of the national effort, said Susan Brownell of the University of Missouri in St. Louis, who studies China's sports culture.
“In China, it's always been more decentralised than East Germany or the Soviet Union was”, said Brownell. “The backbone here is the provincial and municipal teams.”
The patchwork nature of sports recruitment is part of the reason why China's success has not extended to swimming and the running track, said Brownell. “It's not as unified as you'd think.”
Officials in Xiantao said they aim to fill some of that gap. Tian Hua, a deputy head of the city sports administration, recited plans to upgrade gymnastics facilities and redouble efforts in diving, weightlifting and other promising sports.
His comments were interrupted by a call from a mother begging to get her eight-year-old daughter into the gymnastics school. “Sorry, eight is too late,” Tian told her. “They've got to start by five or they're already too far behind.”


Clic here to read the story from its source.